Today the Federal Criminal Procedure Committee of the American College of Trial Lawyers issued a statement calling for a moratorium on the executions of four federal death row inmates scheduled over the next several weeks.  The Committee expresses concern that the imposition of the death penalty during the pandemic is not appropriate at this time given the access to counsel issues that have been created by the COVID 19 pandemic. The number of COVID cases is significantly higher in prison, and that  has severely restricted the ability of counsel to meet with these defendants to prepare petitions for clemency.  The Committee’s full statement is available here.